Marty and Leo
by Koalagriton
Summary: Based on turtle-sketches Mikey/May au. Leonardo has to watch his nephew Marty while the others are away and he's never been very good with children.
Meditating with a toddler in your arms was a lot more difficult than Leo expected, even if said toddler was quiet little Marty. Donatello was usually the one who kept an eye on him when the child was at the lair, sitting on Don's lap or beside him watching his brother's hands intently as he worked. Those two seemed to be mentally linked together somehow, another level of understanding between them even though Marty didn't really speak yet.

Leo shifted slightly and opened an eye to see what the little boy was doing as he sat on his forearms, small bare feet resting on either side tucked into the crease of his hips and thighs, warming tiny cold toes on his skin as Leo held him.

"Dondondondon... dondon." Marty was softly saying under his breath as he traced the shiny buckle of Leo's leather strap that kept his sheaths in place with a finger over and over.

It figures that his brother's name would be the child's first word, his only word for now, but Donatello insisted the boy was smart, just not in the "traditional way".

"Don't that mean there's something wrong with him?" Raph had asked him once Donatello had left the lair to go check on the security cameras that were glitching earlier.

Leonardo just shrugged a shoulder, Marty clinging to him sitting on his hip. If anyone knew Marty it would be Donatello, and Leo wasn't about to contradict anything he said in that respect. Raphael left him alone with the boy a while later and Leonardo took him to his room, setting out some coloured crayons and paper on the floor beside him where he sat down cross-legged to get some meditation time.

Even though Marty looked a lot like his father, their personalities were drastically different. Where Mabel and Mikey had been rowdy, loud and cheerful, Marty was subdued and quiet, shy but affectionate and usually seemed rather observant and focused. Michelangelo had joked that he looked like a little turtle who'd gotten tired of his shell and climbed out of it, and Leonardo had to agree. Half turtle, half human but not really either.

Marty suited Leo's personality quiet well even though he didn't share the bond Donatello had with him but Leonardo was content with what he had. He'd never been very good with children and didn't know what to do with himself around them most of the time but Marty seemed satisfied with sharing his space and quiet affections and he loved his little nephew in Leo's own quiet way in return.

Donatello would usually talk to the child as if he were capable of following his train of thought (could anyone?) and when he did so, Marty would look up at Don's eyes and seem to be clinging onto his every word. Leonardo had tried to do it too, maybe it would help the boy to start talking on his own, but he just felt a bit odd about it and stopped after a while, not sure of what to say.

Today he'd hoped that Marty would entertain himself with the crayons as he usually did but he supposed the shiny buckle on his uncle was a lot more interesting to him so he'd crawled into his lap a short while later. Since it seemed that nothing more was expected of Leo, he'd closed his eyes again after securing the boy in place with his arms but he couldn't manage to get his mind into the right space for meditation, it continuously drifted back to Marty.

A small grape-green finger slid from the buckle to the front vertical groove of his plastron and now Leo opened both eyes and just watched him.

"Am I interesting?" Leonardo asked Marty but after a quick glance at his uncle's face he continued tracing the line up until he ran out of plastron and then down until it crossed with another horizontal groove on his chest.

They sat in silence for a while, Leonardo watching Marty watch him, his little face scrunched in concentration, and he wondered what was going through the boy's mind, what he thought of him, if Leo was loved as much as he loved his nephew, if his nephew knew how much he enjoyed spending time with him.

He let out a long sigh, breathing the air through his nose but stopped when Marty's green finger touched the corner of his mouth and then traced the line over his lips. _Children do not know the meaning of personal space_ , he mused to himself but just pressed his lips together and let the boy continue, stopping when he reached the opposite crease of his mouth and then return to the original side. He didn't mind the boy's explorations, guessed that since they didn't really have lips, when his mouth was closed it was just another interesting groove to trace lightly.

After a few more traces back and forth Leonardo opened his mouth slightly and caught Marty's finger between his lips with a "Nom."

Leo wasn't sure why he did it, hadn't even thought about it before he did, but he instantly regretted it when the little boy jumped, bouncing on his arms once in surprise, eyes widening as he stared at his finger trapped in Leonardo's mouth.

Leonardo kept still, worried he'd just scared Marty and was going to set off tears but Marty didn't pull his finger away completely even when Leo released it, curling and uncurling it in the air as he kept his big brown eyes on Leonardo's mouth, his other small hand pressed against his uncle's cheek. Taking it as a cue that it was okay, Leonardo opened his mouth again slowly and started to reach for him when Marty tucked his hand away quickly, face breaking out into a huge smile and looking up at his uncle's face in a way that said, "ha! not this time! I'm onto you."

Leonardo chuckled and drew back as Marty leaned forward again but before he realised what was happening the little boy opened his mouth wide and "nommed" him back, giving him just enough time to turn his face to get baby drool on his cheek instead of his mouth where Marty was aiming.

"Haha!" Leonardo laughed, "You got me!" and Marty looked at him with a beaming face, incredibly proud of himself.

Leonardo was just beginning to wonder if he'd do it again when a knock on the door had them both turning toward it, opening and revealing a smiling Donatello behind it. Marty turned and reached out with his arms as soon as Don took a step into the room as he always did.

 _Ah, guess playtime is over._ Leonardo thought wistfully, too distracted to notice that Marty was leaning into him before being snatched away to nip him on the cheek again, leaving another wet trace on his other cheek. A chortling laugh echoed in the room after he won the third round of their new game, a laugh they both shared as he felt that connection to the small boy he'd thought he didn't have.

"Is this going to be a new thing?" Donatello asked as he gave them both a questioning look, Marty already perched onto his hip and curling into his favourite uncle.

 _There were small wordless ways in which Marty says I love you to each of the people in his life_. Leonardo decided as soon as they'd gone, wondering if he should follow to be with them for a while longer before Mikey arrived to take Marty home. _You just have to pay attention_.


End file.
